This beautiful, profusely illustrated book is the catalog from a major 2011 exhibit in Paris, at the National Museum of the Middle Ages, with pieces drawn from more than 30 museums in France and several other European countries.

The swords shown, which range from the 7th century up to the current day, include Viking swords, a falchion, a messer, sabers, numerous medieval swords, hunting swords, an executioner's sword and a Federschwert.

(Note that all text is entirely in French. However, a free PDF with English translations of the captions for all 116 photos is available here.)

﻿"Mediaeval Swords from Southeastern Europe: Material from 12th to 15th Century" was published by archeologist, lecturer and sword researcher Marko Aleksić in 2007, but despite the book's value, it remained little-known and difficult to obtain. Now, however, Peregrinus Publishing is the exclusive North American distributor for this unique resource, which catalogs and describes more than 400 swords from the greater Balkans/Carpathian Basin region.

Though well illustrated, this large softcover is not a mere coffee-table book. Rather, it's a serious look at the medieval swords of this region and has been recommended by Craig Johnson of the Oakeshott Institute and Nathan Robinson of MyArmoury.com.

One recent purchaser had these comments: "It is fantastic. There are tons of great drawings and lots of excellent info…. I'm very happy with this book and would recommend it to anyone." Another said, "It's a treasure trove for sure."

And here's a review in a European journal of historical arms and armor. (It's on the third page of the PDF.)

This handy book provides a photo-heavy survey of the swords and polearms at the Steiermärkisches Landeszeughaus (Styrian Provincial Armory) in Graz, Austria, reputedly the world's largest collection of historical arms and armor under one roof.

It's noteworthy that most of the 80 weapons shown, unlike those in many books and collections, are "munitions grade." That is, they are the weapons actually issued to rank-and-file soldiers, not highly decorated presentation pieces.

(This is a dual-language edition, with all text in both German and English.)

Look for even more unusual, hard-to-get books about swords later this year!

And … for a great selection of books and DVDs about how medieval swords were used, along with other books and DVDs on Western martial arts and related topics, visit our friends at Freelance Academy Press.